Fertilizer.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT FRANK, OF CHARLOTTENBURG, AND HERMAN FREUDENBERG,FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN, GERMANY, ASSIGNORS TO CYANlD-GESELL- SOHAFT, M.B. H.

FERTILIZER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 724,565, dated April 7,1903.

Application filed November 26, 1901. Serial No. 83,762. (No specimens.)

To all whom, it-nuty concern: g,

Be it known that we,ALBERT FRANK,che1nist, of Charlottenburg, and HERMANFREUD- ENBERG, chemist, of Frankfort-on-the-Main,

5 Germany,have invented certain new and useful Improvements inFertilizers; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to lo which it appertains to make and use the same.

By a process known from British Patents Nos. 15,066, of August 10, 1895,and 25,475, of December 2, 1898, nitrogenous compounds are produced bythe action at high temperatures of nitrogen (in any suitable form) onthe carbid of alkali and alkaline earths in any suitable formthat is tosay, in the form of finished carbid or mixtures suitable for formingthem-such, for instance, as a mixtu re of lime and coal. The nitrogenouscompounds obtained have, as shown by experiments made by us, a manurialvalue which may be regarded as equivalent to that of ammonia. We havealso discovered that the manurial action depends, essentially, on thepresence of cyanamid,and by the word cyanamid is understood bothcyanamid itself and also its derivatives, such as its metalliccompounds-for instance, cyanamid of-cal- 3o cium-andalso polymerizationproducts,such

as dicyandiamid, and also conversion products, such as urea. Accordinglythe cyanamid is to serve for nourishing plants-t-hat is to say, as anitrogenous manure in agricuh ture--it being immaterial for the presentinvention whether the cyanamid described be pure or impure-that is tosay, in the form of the crude product produced or mixed with othersubstances-such, for instance, as

direct or indirect manurial substances.

Hitherto in addition to animal and vegetable manures-such, for instance,as stablemanure and superphosphatesagriculture had at disposalpractically only nitrate of 5 soda and ammonia salts as nitrogenousartificial manures; but the use of this is limited by their restrictedproduction and by their price. 4

By the present invention the advantage is afforded of rcmunerativelyutilizing the nitrogen of the air for manurial purposes, as

cyanamid and substances containing cyanamid can be obtained in anydesired quantity from the nitrogen of the air, as hereinbeforeexplained. v

The use of cyanamid has the advantage that it may be mixed with theordinary potash and phosphate manures, and thereby a prodnot very richin nitrogen obtained. For instance, by using cyanamid or dicyandiamidcontaining about sixty-six per cent. of nitrogen.mixed withsuper-phosphate a mixed manure may be obtained containing such an amountof nitrogen and phosphoricacid as has been hitherto unobtainable whenusing the ordinary nitrogenous manures. If, forinstance, asuperphosphate containing twenty per cent. of soluble phosphoric acid isto be con verted into a mixed manure which contains five per cent. ofnitrogen, it is necessary where sulfate of ammonia is employed to mixtwenty -five parts of sulfate of ammonia with seventy-five parts ofsuperphosphate, and a product is obtained which contains, in addition tofive per cent. nitrogen, only fifteen per cent. phosphoric acid. If,however, cyanamid or, rather, its polymerization product (thedicyandiamid) be used, it is only necessary to take for ninety-two partsof superphosphate eight parts of cyanamid, and a product is obtainedwhich contains, in addition to the required five per cent. of nitrogen,also 18.4 per cent. of phosphoric acid.

The use of the hereinbefore described crude-formed substancespractically containing from twenty to twenty-four percent. of nitrogenhas an advantage over the use of the known high per cent. nitrogenousmanures.such, for instance, as sulfate of ammonia, containing abouttwenty per cent. nitrogen, and nitrate of soda, containing about sixteenper cent. of nitrogen--not only in possessing a higher percentage ofnitrogen,

but also that by the most customary use of lime as basis of the carbidor carbid-forming mixture serving for.producing the cyanamid twovaluable nutritive substances-- namely nitrogen and lime-are at the sametime given to the ground and the plants.

The action of substances containing cyanamid is a uniform one and issuitable for the growth of plants.

Having now described our invention, what In testimony that we claim theforegoing as we claim as new therein, and desire to secure our inventionwe have signed our names in by Letters Patent, is presence ofsubscribing witnesses. 1. A fertilizer containing as an essential ALBERTFRANK.

5 constituent cyanamid,thelatter,bydecompo- HERMAN FREUDENBERG.

sition in the soil yielding up its nitrogen, Witnesses as to AlbertFrank: substantially as set forth. J OHANNES HEIN,

2. A fertilizer containing as essential con- WOLDEMAR HAUPT. stituentslime and cyanamid, the latter, by Witnesses as to Herman Freudcnberg: 1odecomposition in the soil yielding up its ni- ALBERT MARQUARDT,

trogen, substantially as set forth. ADOLF KOCH.

